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53°54′58″N1°19′08″W / 53.916°N 1.319°W /53.916; -1.319
Thorp Arch Trading Estate is atrading estate, with both industrial and retail space, 3 miles (5 km) south-east ofWetherby in theCity of Leedsmetropolitan borough,West Yorkshire, England. The estate occupies the major part of the site of a formerRoyal Ordnance Factory (ROF),ROF Thorp Arch, in the parishes ofThorp Arch andWalton. There is evidence of its former use around the site which was similar in layout to the formerROF Aycliffe inDarlington,County Durham.
The Royal Ordnance Factory was built to supply British forces with munitions during theSecond World War. The site was ideal: it had a railway running adjacent (theHarrogate to Church Fenton Line), open space and was not in a strategic bombing area. Railways sidings were built (these are still evident in certain areas) and buildings constructed around them, many with flat concrete roofs. The retail[clarification needed] park is constructed in semi-underground bunkers, with grassy banks running up the sides of the buildings.
The Royal Ordnance Factory closed in 1957. However, with a boom in the construction trade and many others in the post-war years, the site found many new industries requiring the space it could offer.
George Moore (founder of Moores Furniture Group) bought the site in 1960s and converted it into a trading estate. Moores Furniture Group furniture factory is situated on the estate, as is aLeeds City Council household recycling centre, a sewage works and many other small businesses situated.
A major development, and the biggest employer, is theBritish Library lending division, the British Library's second site after theSt Pancras site in Central London.[1] The British Library Boston Spa, as it is known, is housed in a large eight-storey concrete building (with windows set in narrow slits to avoid light damage to the books) and many smaller, newer buildings around it.
The Thorp Arch Retail Park occupies semi-underground bunkers and many of the retail outlets have grassy banks up the exterior walls.
The retail park had a branch ofTexas Homecare, but because of the small-sized units, it occupied two units several hundred yards apart but they were closed. Bargain Street, (a now defunctWest Yorkshire discount clothes and household good retailer) also had premises.
During the 2008–2009 UK retail crisis, two retail chains,Land of Leather and Empire Direct, closed.